1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to restraining a vehicle, and more particularly to systems and methods for restraining a vehicle with a collision release mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
Consumer demand for fuel efficient cars has forced vehicle manufacturers to produce lighter vehicles. Older vehicles have heavy and strong suspensions. Newer passenger vehicles, sport utility vehicles, crossovers, minivans, and light trucks are designed with lighter and weaker suspensions in order to reduce weight and increase fuel economy.
Such new vehicle suspensions are often damaged by impacts sustained during shipping with traditional restraints. For example, during recommended operations, railway car switching and coupling occurs between trains traveling at under four miles per hour. Both light and heavy vehicle suspensions are typically strong enough to sustain these impacts without damage when restrained by traditional restraining methods such as wheel-chocks and straps attached to the deck of the railway car. Impacts sometimes occur between railway cars traveling at higher speeds, for example, above eight miles per hour. The heavy suspensions usually sustain these impacts, but light suspensions often give way, causing suspension mis-alignment and damage. These problems often go undetected and are exacerbated by routine driving, which results in premature and possibly catastrophic suspension failure during use.